before steam and other advances
Chappe
Semaphore Telegraph |
from Tom Cringle's Log 'The admiral, for instance, had a semaphore in the stationary flag-ship at Port-Royal, which communicated with another at his Pen, or residence, near Kingston; and this again rattled off the information to the mountain retreat, where he occasionally retired to careen; . . . ' [probably the admiral's semaphore was a system of using naval flags - but both systems were the forerunners of the electric telegraph.] |
I have lately been mentally pestered by the idea of someone (me?) writing a steampunk novel about Jamaica; I think there is a really inspirational thought there, but I'm pretty sure I don't have the talents necessary to carry it through. So - instead I will do something to create the background for such a book by setting out the technological story of Jamaica in the 19th century. I am not sure that most of us understand the extent to which Jamaica, largely because of its significant links with North America and Britain, experienced early most of the epoch-making technological advances which took place from the 18th century onwards. I hope this little web site will help to fill in the blanks, and that others will help to fill in the gaps I will certainly leave in the story.
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It is an intriguing exercise to recreate the technological Jamaica of 1800. The first, and possibly most significant aspect, is that of communication; all contact with the world beyond the shores of the island could only be achieved by the use of sailing ships, which carried human and all other forms of cargo, and all letters and packages. The voyages were long and potentially extremely risky, and there was no means of contact between ship and land once they were out of sight of each other.
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In the 19th century means of communication at a distance - telecommunication - became very significant areas of experiment and development. In Jamaica in 1800 it seems that the only type of such communication was that used by ships signalling with flags; it is not clear when the methods of semaphore or manual telegraphy already being developed in Europe reached the island.
the 'old' technologies
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'Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by industrialized Western civilization during the 19th century.' Wikipedia
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I have tried to be as factually accurate as possible on these pages, but there are certainly errors which need to be corrected. I shall be grateful for information on any such needed corrections. My opinions are another matter, but I have tried to keep them to a minimum any way!
This is a strictly non-profit, educational site. No copyright infringement is intended. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact me. Joy Lumsden, MA(Cantab), PhD(UWI) Please contact me with comments, criticisms, and information, at jamaica(dot)history(at)outlook
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